Milwaukee laid waste to Atlanta in a 13-1 rout Tuesday, but the Brewers entered the game amid a terrible stretch that could help prevent them from earning their second straight playoff berth. The reigning NL Central champion Brewers have led the division for a large portion of the year, but they’ve won just 11 of 30 since sitting a season-best 10 games over .500 on June 9. They’re now a mediocre 49-47 and looking up at the Cubs in their division. Despite their recent downturn, all hope isn’t lost for the Brewers, who are still 2 1/2 games behind Chicago and only a half-game back of a wild-card spot.
With the July 31 trade deadline coming up, Brewers general manager David Stearns discussed his plans for the next couple weeks with Adam McCalvy of MLB.com and other reporters Tuesday. Unsurprisingly, Stearns revealed it’s “our preference” to acquire outside help and suggested it’s likely to happen. But Stearns didn’t fully commit to bolstering his roster, noting Milwaukee’s current players will decide whether it happens with how they perform on the field. The Brewers “have not played good baseball” of late, stated Stearns, who admitted the club’s “fortunate” to be within striking distance of a playoff spot despite its lengthy stretch of poor play.
If the Brewers do persuade Stearns into making any aggressive moves this month, their pitching staff seems likely to be a major area of focus. The club has been connected to a few of the best potentially on-the-move starters – the Mets’ Noah Syndergaard and Zack Wheeler (links here) and the Giants’ Madison Bumgarner (link) – as well as Giants closer and ex-Brewer Will Smith in the rumor mill. It stands to reason some of the majors’ other prominent trade candidates have also landed on the Brewers’ radar.
Milwaukee’s rotation entered Tuesday 19th in ERA and a similarly uninspiring 17th in FIP, owing to subpar performances from an array of starters. Jhoulys Chacin has fallen flat after a strong 2018, while Freddy Peralta, Corbin Burnes and Jimmy Nelson couldn’t stick in the Brewers’ rotation after offering disappointing numbers earlier in the season. The struggles of Peralta, Burnes and Nelson have opened the door for Adrian Houser, who had been working as a reliever. Houser’s three starts this month haven’t gone well, as he has allowed 12 earned runs on 21 hits with a 10:5 K:BB ratio in 15 innings.
In more encouraging news, Zach Davies has managed a 2.89 ERA – albeit with less-than-dazzling peripherals – while the 26-year-old Brandon Woodruff looks as if he’s breaking out. Chase Anderson has pitched fine in 13 starts (4.23 ERA/4.10 FIP), though he hasn’t even averaged five frames per outing. Gio Gonzalez notched a 3.19 ERA/3.24 FIP in a six-start, 31-inning span from his late-April signing through the end of May. However, Gonzalez hasn’t taken the mound for the Brewers since then because of a dead arm. Gonzalez recently began a rehab assignment, though, perhaps giving the Brewers hope that the long-competent lefty could help stabilize their rotation down the stretch.
The Brewers’ bullpen, meanwhile, isn’t quite the force it was a year ago. Josh Hader has been outstanding again, as was Houser before the Brewers shifted him to their rotation. Peralta has recorded much better production in relief than he did as a starter. Meanwhile, unlike last year, Jeremy Jeffress has been more decent than dominant in 2019. That group aside, the Brewers haven’t received particularly impressive numbers from any other relievers they’ve used extensively this year. Losing Corey Knebel to Tommy John surgery in late March was a brutal blow to take just as the season was getting underway. His lack of availability is one of the reasons the Brewers may be in the market for late-game help this month.
Miguel Rojas would be a great fit. Especially if Dubon is viewed as trade bait. Miggy Ro can be a utility player next season when Arcia is given another chance. Or takeover for Shaw.
~18 teams feel they’re still in it. The next 2 weeks is going to be tough for a lot of GMs
Could they go after Greinke if Arizona pays down a lot of money on his contract?
Package Braun.
You could send him PED.
You’re funny
Six years on and still making Braun PED jokes…Time for some new material, buddy.
I don’t think Detroit paid much when Verlander was traded.
Verlander is/was better than Greinke and wasn’t almost 36 when he was dealt to Houston.
I think Greinke would be a great addition. He enjoyed his time in Milwaukee and is still pitching like a top of the rotation starter. The key will be to get Arizona to eat a portion of his salary while not having to give away too much prospect wise
I like the idea of trading for Greinke. He’s still produces like a top of the rotation starter and can likely be had for minimal return if willing to take on his contract. Otherwise you can up your offer and ask Arizona to cover some of his remaining salary
Well the Cubs had a dubious stretch much earlier in the year. Happens. Doesn’t mean then that the Crew’s current stretch could doom them. Plenty of ball—including intra-divisional—left.
Ken Giles would be a good addition for this bullpen
Im very interested in seeing what Stearns decides to do. Alot of Brewers fans feel comfortable with him making decisions over Doug Melvin. Melvin was awful imo and never really wanted to add much. He got CC and Greinke in his tenure. That was about it in the way of impact players lol. David has shown he is willing to and Mark Attanassio has stated he will forfeit more money and add to the teams spending if it means getting an impact player. Still feel like Marcus Stroman finds his way into a brewers uniform. They have been after him for a year. Only question is, at what cost? I know Huira is not going anywhere so getting a deal done should be hard. What he is doing is really impressive right now. Him and Yelich are fun players to watch!
Best rotation in baseball, they don’t need to add anything but another bat.
Isnt that the Brian Cashman approach lol
Which team are you talking about? The Brewers have a team 99 ERA+.
This is going to be an interesting couple of weeks. If things go south, I could see them trading Grandal and Moose. Their farm system is pretty light on talent, so that would help the future. That said, I’m sure hoping they can turn things around and compete down the stretch. October baseball is soooo much fun to watch!
Maybe extend Grandal/Moose. Dont think you can get both but one of those on a shorter deal would be nice. Both are having terrific years and would love to have them back. Im just scared of Travis Shaw starting next year if Moose is gone.
Their pitching is a wreck. This isn’t the pixie dust six-week stretch at the end of 2018. Stearns should have realized that but he whiffed, relying too much on internal options with extremely limited success.
He relied on the young guys too much but i dont think anyone predicted Corbin Burnes to look this bad after what he did in 2018. A little drop off was expected but he looks lost. Peralta was never a starter to begin with. I think Burnes and Peralta are relief pitchers and never should have been tried in the rotation. Burnes was dominant from the pen last year. If it aint broke dont fix it. I agree they went cheap though. Miley was out there and would have been nice to get him back. Chacin had a career year last season and I knew he was going to tank this year. I would say they overvalued their staff for sure coming out of spring. Now its David’s time to step up, take ownership for their lack of moves on the pitching side, and get us some arms. They even got gun shy when it came to guys like Roark and Sonny Gray. Those 2 pitchers would have fit in nicely and would have been a relatively low cost. Us Brewer fans are not/never asked for an ace. But we do ask that you fill the rotation with quality/proven arms like the Reds did in the off season. Guys that can consistently keep you in games and pitch 6 innings 2 runs. Then maybe the season would have gone differently if guys like Houser and Burnes had established pen roles instead of being flip flopped from pen to starter pen to starter every week. That strategy will never work
Gio was looking like an answer. If he could have given them 25 starts and 130 innings it would have helped a lot.
They also thought Jimmy Nelson might provide something. When both those options flamed out they were really in a bind.
I don’t know why Drew Smyly left, he might have at least been a 2-3 inning bullpen arm. Now they are back on the Burch Smith/Taylor Williams shuffle wagon.
sterns new the rotation was shit before the season even started and didn’t do anything about it. He needs to acquire at least 1 quality starter. 2 would be best. If he doesn’t he might as well trade away Moose & Grandal and get what he can for those guys and go after 1 maybe both in the off season .
For real I don’t understand why he never improved the rotation
you are a moron.
This is simple to fix
1. Make josh hader a starting pitcher like he was supposed to be
2. Freddy Peralta needs to be in the rotation but use someone else as an opener for that game Freddy does better once it’s the second time through the order
3. Trade for an ace trade for Thor or at the very least Robbie Ray
Hader would need to develop another pitch or two. He relies to heavily on his fastball and an occasional slider. Hitters are already figuring that out. I can’t see him getting through a lineup three times.
That’s honestly the worst plan I’ve seen yet. The bullpen is terrible and you want to make it worse by pulling their best weapon out of it mid season? The starting rotation while not great, can do enough to keep you in the game. Middle relief and setup men are what the brewers need to properly bridge the gap to Hader and stop burning him out with these multi inning saves.
The Brewers used the “give us five or six innings and we’ll take it from there” approach with most of their starters last year and it worked. But a lot of innings and a deep October run seems to have blown up on a lot of their bullpen guys in 2019 and they need to add some fresh relief arms plus a starter or two who can get into the 7th.
Baseball has seen countless “new ways of thinking” in 150+ years and the analytics guys haven’t discovered the keys to the kingdom with openers and four innings out of the bullpen every day. Add a couple SP who can get through the lineup three times and a couple solid relievers and they can make a run.
the loss of Knebel doomed that strategy for 2019. it doesn’t work with just 1 uber reliever.